...The eye-catching orange stands are examples of programmatic architecture, characterized by construction in the form of objects not normally used in buildings, including Randy's Donuts, the Inglewood landmark; Tail o' the Pup, the hot-dog-shaped stand in Los Angeles; Bondurant's Pharmacy, a mortar-and-pestle structure in Lexington, Ky., and Longaberger Co.'s basket-shaped headquarters in Newark, Ohio.

Joe Bono, who is in his 70s, can remember citrus groves stretching as far as he could see during his boyhood in Fontana. His family settled in the area to farm 200 acres of vineyards. To help pay the bills, his mother in 1936 opened a restaurant and deli with an orange stand on Route 66, now Foothill Boulevard...